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Set in 1935, the iconic opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), begins with a lavish musical number ('Anything Goes') set in a fictional Shanghai nightclub (Club Obi Wan, for film buffs), a scene which ultimately ends with Indie, Short Round, and the club's female headliner, Willie, making a daring escape from the clutches of a group of ruthless, Tommy Gun-toting, Chinese mobsters. While the rest of the film takes place in Raj-Era India, the choice to begin in a 1930s Shanghai nightclub was a direct reference to that city's historic 'The Bund' district, an architecturally eclectic assortment of Colonial-Era buildings which line a two-kilometre stretch of Shanghai's Huangpu River. Thus, after exploring Miami Deco last week, this edition of Cityscape will explore Shanghai's The Bund, the wonderfully idiosyncratic collection of Old World European architecture that continues to play a central role amid the otherwise ultra-modern skyline of what today has become China's largest city and financial hub.
As the site of Shanghai's Colonial-Era building boom throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, The Bund's (meaning an embankment or levee) impressive row of historic banks, hotels, office buildings, and nightclubs, is one of China's largest collections of Colonial-Era architecture. Featuring a highly eclectic variety of architectural styles, including Beaux-Arts, Neo-Classical, Gothic Revival, and Art Deco, the district's 52 historic structures make for a wonderful local aesthetic, providing the city with a highly popular destination for tourists, club-goers, and urban explorers alike.
Designed by a far-ranging host of international architectural firms hailing from Great Britain, the United States, France, Japan, and China, the row of historic structures that makes up The Bund is highly representative of China's Colonial past, which reached its peak during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Evocative of a European capital, the above streetscape, taken from the start of The Bund, could easily stand in for Paris, London, or Rome.
Beginning with No. 1 and No. 2 The Bund, the above image captures the McBain Building (left), which was built in 1916 by the Shanghai-based architectural firm of Moorhead & Halse, along with the 1910-built Baroque-Revival Shanghai Club (right), designed via a collaboration between the exterior's architect H. Tarrant and Japanese architect Shimoda Kikutaro who designed the club's iconic, 34-metre, marble-clad Long Bar, for which the Shanghai Club was best known. Left derelict throughout the late 1990s, the Shanghai Club was leased by the Hilton Group in 2009 and reopened in 2011 as the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on The Bund.
Situated at No. 3 and No 4. The Bund, the 1922-built Union Building (above), designed by Palmer & Turner Architects and Surveyors, based out of what was then British Hong Kong, is an excellent example of Renaissance Revival, with touches of some Baroque detailing. Faced entirely in granite, the distinctive structure features a unique domed corner pavilion.
Moving along to No. 12 The Bund, the Neo-Classical 1923-built HSBC Building (above), also by Palmer & Turner, now houses the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. With an area of 23,415 square metres, it was once the second-largest structure in the world, following the Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh. The impressive structure features an array of Neo-Classical design elements, the massive dome and Ionic columns among the most notable, while the interior of the dome is decorated with an elaborate mural featuring highly stylized depictions of eight cities in which the HSBC then had dealings, including Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, New York, Bangkok, Paris, and Calcutta.
Over to No. 14 The Bund, the 1948-built Bank of Communications Building (above), features a striking Art Deco and Asian-influenced design by Hungarian architect C. H. Gonda, who had already made a name for himself in Shanghai for his modernist movie palaces and other structures, mostly completed in his unique take on the Art Deco style. Disrupted by the Japanese invasion of 1937 during what became the Second Sino-Japanese War, followed by the Second World War, the plans for the Bank of Communications Building were delayed until 1948, when the structure became the last building completed on The Bund prior to the Communist Revolution in 1949.
Seen above, the three buildings at No. 19, 20, and 23 The Bund, from left to right, are the South Building of the Peace Hotel, North Building of the Peace Hotel, and Bank of China Building. Originally known as the Palace Hotel when it opened in 1906, the Renaissance-style building to the far left was joined in later years by the significantly larger, more imposing granite structure seen in the centre. Built in 1929, the North Building was originally known as the Sassoon House, designed by Palmer & Turner for Sir Victor Sassoon, a Shanghai-based hotelier and businessman. The North Building closed for renovations in 2007, then reopened in 2010 as the Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai.
Seen in the image above, the Bank of China Building (centre) was designed via a collaboration between Palmer & Turner and Mr. Lu Qianshou, Chief Architect of the Bank of China. Built in 1937 on the site of the former German Club (seized by the Chinese Government during the First World War), the structure features a host of Chinese design cues, including the exterior placement of Chinese characters for "longevity" set into the Jinshan stone facade, along with the much more traditional Chinese roof decoration. The building's height was restricted by Sir Victor Sassoon, who insisted that no building on The Bund exceed his own. Completed just before the city's surrender to the Japanese, the structure marks yet another turning point in the development of The Bund's distinct architectural aesthetic.
Looking back from the far end, the aerial view of The Bund (above) highlights the historic district's special place amid the surrounding Shanghai skyline. Aided by The Bund's gentle curve, the panoramic view of the area showcases the distinct, Old World European charm present along this vastly popular stretch of the Huangpu River. While today the modern city of more than 14 million people has far exceeded its historic or Colonial origins, the Shanghai cityscape remains a glittering testament to modern architecture, and The Bund is as much a part of the city's past, as present and future, helping set the tone of Shanghai's eclectic urban character and architectural aesthetic.
For further discussion on topics relating to Shanghai, check out the local Forum, and as always, feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below. Cityscape will return soon with a new installment, and in the meantime, SkyriseCities welcomes new suggestions for additional cities and styles to cover in the weeks to come.
